Today Mike Murphy, Facebook’s vice-president of Global sales, announced that it had more than quadrupled the number of its advertiser clients since the beginning of 2009. He also claimed that advertising on Facebook has become “absolutely core to marketing campaigns” – but has it?

What was interesting is that Facebook failed to actually diverge any actual figures, perhaps suggesting that the word “quadrupled” sounds like a bigger growth than it actually was in numbers. Nevertheless, Facebook’s client list does go a long way to supporting the fact that more and more global brands are starting to take more seriously with Adidas, Procter & Gamble and Barbour all using the websites extensive consumer base for advertising on. Likewise Coca Cola has also recently launched a pan-European content hub campaign on Facebook to support the Diet Cola brand.

To me, Facebook is still a longway off becoming a “core” part of a companies online marketing campaign, however it is clear that due to the size and diversity of its consumer base, Global companies can no longer afford to ignore it; especially if their primary marketing objective is brand awareness.